Saturday, 14 January 2017

I Was the Drummer in that Lousy Army A play for radio by ROY BOLITHO with T.P. McKenna and Blain Fairman The Civil War was long over and an old man fights old battles. A prodigal son disturbs the family and the old man's dreams. What is truth and what fantasy? Produced by R. D. SMITH

A Hero for LeandaThe novel by ANDREW GARVE dramatised by EII.EEN CULLEN with T.P. McKenna, Maria Aitken and David March A freak wind off the African coast wrecks Michael Con -way's yacht and leaves him penniless, stranded in Ghana. He is offered a way out of his difficulties - a highly paid, dangerous challenge. Should he accept it? Time: the late 1950s. (Santario island is fiotitious)Producer BETTY DAVIES

The CircusA black comedy by SEAN WALSH with T.P. McKenna and Kate BinchyThe arrival of a circus in town coincides with the return of Dick and Nora's daughter to the parental home in Ireland ... accompanied by the news of her recent pregnancy and registry-office marriage. At which point, the real circus begins.Directed by ROBERT COOPER BBC Northern Ireland

The Man Who Could Spell Backwards by KEVIN GRATTAN With T.P. McKenna as Tom and James Greene as Alec Tom , a successful businessman, visits his brother Alec in an institution. During their conversation, Tom reveals his feelings of guilt, and Alec his utter desperation. Even though he can't get rid of the fright in his soul, is Alec really ill enough to be kept in isolation?Directed by SUSAN HOGG BBC Northern Ireland

In which travellers on the Southern Region pass their time like Chaucer's pilgrims by telling stories. The Navvy's TaleWritten by ALAN LOTHIAN (a winner in the Commuters' Tales competition) and told by T.P. McKenna to ROBIN BROWNE and WILLIAM EEDLEProducer SIMON BRETT

In which travellers on the Southern Region pass their time like Chaucer's pilgrims by telling stories. The Navvy's TaleWritten by ALAN LOTHIAN (a winner in the Commuters' Tales competition) and told by T.P. McKenna to ROBIN BROWNE and WILLIAM EEDLEProducer SIMON BRETT

The Destruction Factor by JAMES FOLLETT1: The Seeds of Creation with T.P. McKenna as Max FlindersRosalind Adams as Denise Exon and Paul Copley as Howard RogersRalph Exon, working for an international fertiliser corporation, has created a new strain of plant: a mutation which he hopes will bring relief to the famine-ridden countries of the world. It is an innocent-looking plant. But in that plant, known as the Exon strain, there also lurks the Destruction Factor.Directed by DAVID SPENSER

The Cradle Man by ANDREW TYRRELL With T.P. McKenna as Quinn, Maggie Shevlin as Anne, Frank Grimes as Fadden and Sonia Fraser as Miss WalkerOne's lonely, two's company, three's a crowd: Anne has come to London from her native Ireland with her baby son, hoping to make a fresh start.Lonely and overwhelmed by the responsibilities of motherhood, her life is full of problems. The two other lodgers in the boarding house where she stays begin to take a keen interest in her - but they both have problems of their own. Directed by CHERRY COOKSON

Introduced by Sue MacGregor Home Before Night by HUGH LEONARD abridged in four parts by DELIA PATONRead by T.P. McKenna. Hugh Leonard 's richly humorous autobiography tells of his growing up in the 30s, on the outskirts of Dublin, as an adopted child.(Music: Dubois' Saxophone Quartet)

Frank Delaney presents his personal choice of prose and poetry with Barbara Jefford and T.P. McKenna'... ever since I came to live in England six years ago, I have had to respond to both Celtic excess and Anglo-Saxon restraint. Imagine then, my problems with an anthology called With Great Pleasure'.Recorded before an invited audience at the Duke's Playhouse, Lancaster Producer ALEC REID BBC Bristol

William Trevor reflects on the history and traditions of the fair city of Dublin ... with a little help from earlier writers.Additional touches of blarney are provided by Marcella O'Riordan and T.P. McKenna.Producer JOCK GALLAGHER BBC Pebble Mill

The anthem chosen to mark Dublin's millenium is a new arrangement of Molly Malone. The influence of those famous streets is very much in evidence as William Trevor reflects on the history and traditions of the Fair City ... with a little help from earlier writers.Additional touches of blarney are provided by Marcella O'Riordan and T.P. McKenna. Producer JOCK GALLAGHER BBC Pebble Mill

Miracle at Tubbernanog by FREDERIC MULLALLYDramatised for radio by EDWARD MARSH with T.P. McKenna... and, isn't it desertin' from the British Army he is? And sure hasn't he the strength of ten men? And isn't Fixer goin' to paint him black and flog him as a wrestler to an Eye-tallan millionaire? And doesn't he look lovely in his white satin briefs spangled with diamante shamrocks made by French Nuns?Colleens and Floozies MAUREEN DOW and AINGEAL CREHANMusical Director JOHN ANDERSON Directed by ROBERT COOPER BBC Northern Ireland